


Careful Creature (made friends with Time)

by WednesdaysDaughter



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, Classic Doctor Who References, Companions, Crossing Timelines, F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 23:45:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19413973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WednesdaysDaughter/pseuds/WednesdaysDaughter
Summary: She is ancient and bold, bigger than her fragile body and smaller than a speck of dust floating in sunset’s dying light.





	Careful Creature (made friends with Time)

**Author's Note:**

> Who knew Billy Eilish's "Ocean Eyes" was going to be used in a Doctor/Rose fanvid and it was going to ruin my life. I certainly didn't. Anyway, I threw myself back into DW earlier this year and then left for a half-second only to be pulled back in by Good Omens and my never-ending affection for David Tennant. 
> 
> This is the result.

The seconds spent as a goddess come and go without conscious understanding.

Errant flickers of gold dance just out of reach in her muddled dreams; echoes of a voice so familiar and alien at the same time wash upon a hazy shore before the waking world fully claims Rose’s attention.

“ _A message to lead myself here_.”

Hand locked firmly in his, Rose runs during the day away from questions she doesn’t know to ask. It makes sense, in the impossible way everything else surrounding the Doctor does, that a song chased the monsters away. The whirlwind adventure akin to something out of _The Twilight Zone_ leaves her breathless and unsure staring into pools of chocolate where once there was ice.

Molten gold swirls when she blinks in the mirror and before she can form a query he’s knocking on her door with renewed vigor. Her laugh follows them down the narrow hallways and into a thriving metropolis.

The scent of apple-grass tugs at something locked in a box, buried in an ocean with no current. Her dreams twist and turn as her mind rids itself of another’s presence like antibodies fighting an infection. The TARDIS coos and soothes until Rose cannot tell dreams from memories – choosing to follow instead of fly away.

She is ancient and bold, bigger than her fragile body and smaller than a speck of dust floating in sunset’s dying light.

On fire, she blazes across the timelines on a mission that began centuries ago and will continue long after she is gone. Captivated by a young boy she is stolen, no she is saved by a man in leather; it’s possible she is left brokenhearted on a beach. She is all of these things and more; a goddess, a girl, a moment sent back to a man in desperate need of assistance.

The words spread themselves across worlds she’ll never remember and times he’ll avoid for some unknown reason though the pyramids were a favorite of his at one point. Planets torn apart by war will carefully craft a fairytale that will morph into prophecy the day she appears out of nowhere with a blue jacket and a big gun.

“ _I can see the whole of time and space_.”

Time slows and when Rose opens her eyes the scenery has changed.

She knows she’s on the TARDIS long before she takes in the orange glow and glass flooring. The song grows loud enough to deafen those that lack telepathic finesse, but Rose endures. It’s not meant for her this time.

Violently pulled from the library he nearly crashes through a door carefully moved across the corridor from unfathomable depths of space itself. Wooden splinters slide into his trembling hands as they caress an apology into the sturdy ghost. Her apparition nearly blinds him; time’s tendrils arcing from her like a plasma globe. The room filled with ticking clocks stop when their eyes meet and he feels infinitely old and awkwardly young beneath her gaze.

“How are you here?”

Rose cocks her head and chooses to ignore the question, focusing instead on way he wrings his hands. Electrical impulses flare in this body making her itch with the same desire to flee for a hundredth of a second.

“Why are you running?”

The Doctor stills, her voice trailing past unopened rooms she once inhabited. Like a museum left unattended, he shoved the painful bits into boxes and let them gather dust. It hurts her more than the discomfort slowly trickling into the back of her mind.

“I came all this way,” she says to the twinkling console inches beneath her curious fingers.

“I came all this way,” she says to a stranger as his body is taken from a river that saw a different ending.

“Satellite Five,” he replies putting the pieces together, “it’s happening right now.”

Rose – no Bad Wolf – laughs, little chimes dancing in the air because of course it’s happening right now you silly man.

“It’s always happening Doctor,” Rose sighs and he’s turning to look over his shoulder instead of following Sarah Jane outside because he could’ve sworn he heard a voice.

Time swirls before her eyes, bending all the rules because she asks so sweetly. Rose presses a finger to her lips when Susan gasps in fright and her wink at Jamie’s double-take stays with him long after he’s returned home. Peri opens her mouth to ask him about the glowing blonde, but forgets what she’s going to say when the TARDIS lands, jostling them both. Ace and Tegan gawk at her cheeky grin and she stops by just long enough to wave at Lucie Miller.

She doesn’t linger – doesn’t leave a memorable mark on his companion’s minds until she turns and stumbles into Rory Williams.

“Oops,” she shrugs and bows out before he can call attention to her improbable existence. River Song catches sight of her grateful smile when she leans in to kiss the Doctor’s cheek. Bill just shrugs, assuming glowing women were a commonplace commodity when traveling all of space and time. Rose ducks behind the pillar of memories – drinking in the circular form her name takes in his native language – before Clara can get a good look.

She’s pulled back with a quick snap of his fingers in front of her nose and she glares, “That was rude.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” the frustration in his voice lending itself to the panicked pleas of his former body, “and you definitely shouldn’t be mucking about my timeline!”

“ _How can I let go of this?_ ”

Her had raises to cup his cheek and he flinches backwards as if burnt. Lead fills her until she’s a collapsed star destroying all life within reach. She’s lost in an ancient cavern and encased in his arms as if she’ll float away into the black hole above.

The Doctor’s eyes soften as if he’s standing right there with her and she wants to be in that memory with him more than anything. Rose looks down at herself and the beginnings of tears form beneath her clumpy eyelashes.

“I wanted you safe,” she murmurs, “and I made you sad instead.”

She knows he’s alone – can feel it in the way the TARDIS sings mournfully for New York though it hasn’t happened for him yet. Rose wants to warn him, but Bad Wolf yanks the words back until she’s choking around sorrow.

“You made me very happy Rose Tyler,” he concedes with gracious defeat and a sincere smile offered up to a goddess in contrition. She finds him wanting, but allows this simple victory knowing he cannot run forever.

She catalogues the depths of sadness he cannot escape; the smell of sea salt lends itself to the first tear streaking down her face. His hand reaches up automatically – a reflex ingrained in every body, never realizing she was the catalyst.

His lips form the shape of her name, but she shakes her head. He’s not meant to say those words and she didn’t come here to break his hearts. Eventually the Doctor blinks and she’s gone. Rose leaves him with an unspoken request and the faintest trace of time’s kiss on his cheek.

“Please don’t forget me.”

The space between his hearts is tender to the touch, “As if I’d do such a foolish thing,” he promises and the clocks start ticking again.

They’re standing hand-in-hand watching Earth’s debris float in the endless vacuum of space. They’re standing hand-in-hand watching snow that isn’t snow fall from the sky in time for Christmas. They’re standing hand-in-hand on a beach as the TARDIS leaves them behind; her somber melody stuck on a loop in her head until Rose nearly breaks.

“ _I can see everything: All that is, all that was, all that ever could be_.”

Her eyes fly open and he’s waiting for her this time.

“I liked the bowtie,” she confesses and he scoffs, eyebrows bunching together until they look like angry caterpillars. They chuckle silently to themselves, but he must hear their amusement if his scowl is any indication.

“You need to let go, Rose.”

It’s the first time he’s said her name in this body – the first time he’s said her name in a few centuries in fact. Her body hums beneath the familiar caress of that syllable and it’s good to know he never forgets how to say it. Her relief is short lived when she turns in time to see him engulfed in energy. It’s not far off now; the image overlaps with every regeneration including the one she has to live through.

She’s popped in too late.

“You’re alone again,” Rose keens nearly curling into herself. Bad Wolf keeps her strong, but the back of her skull feels too big. She’s running out of time; always running out of time with him. Another battlefield crushed beneath his shoes and Rose isn’t sure where her ache starts and Bad Wolf’s ends.

He scoffs and looks down at his hands; fingers pulsating with the unfamiliar desire to touch someone.

“There’s you.”

Hot trails of fire race down her cheek and he’s approaching her slowly ready to take her in his arms and end this adventure he’d never Ok’d in the first place. She does want to let go just yet and steps away from a future she never gets to see.

“There’s me,” she affirms seeing the acceptance in his weary gaze. This time he doesn’t flinch when she reaches out and their fingers interlock like rusty tumblers coming together after decades of neglect.

The timber of his Scottish voice sends her careening down a dark hallway, werewolf nipping at her heels. They’re laughing loudly and carefree: Basking in each other’s existence with a levity he lacks for a long time after she’s gone.

He drinks her in as Rose pokes and prods time until it behaves: A few unlocked doors, a distraction here and there, and people looking up at the perfect time while others turn their back on television screens. The near misses are necessary and Rose wishes that she’ll remember this stolen time with her new, new, new, new Doctor because he’s not looking at her like a ghost anymore.

The TARDIS tells her where to put the words and regrets the panic attack it’ll trigger in her three weeks after she’s trapped in Pete’s World. They work collectively laying out a plan that will honor a promise she hasn’t made with these lips yet.

Their story is splashed across caves in a distant galaxy at the same time the first star goes out. People gather around Ada to here an impossible story about two legends who saved her life. A young mother clings to her son on VE Day, searching the crowds for a blonde wearing a Union Jack. An old friend looks on as the Doctor and his plus one save them from an unpleasant sunburn.

‘Some first date,’ he thinks fondly and recalls what it felt like to dance on the TARDIS.

Rose comes back in time to see lips twitch in amusement before this Doctor says goodbye. He’s all bluster and hot air, but his voice is kind – serving as a reminder to them both that she always brought out the best in him (and vice versa).

“ _My head, it’s killing me._ ”

“Oh, my turn is it?”

Time’s banging on the back door – curtain call is close at hand. Rose barely has any time to take in the brilliant smile on the Doctor’s face before she’s guided through some last minute tinkering. The TARDIS knows she cannot hold onto Rose for much longer, but the threat of separation makes her hymn ring hollow.

“Oh hush you,” the Doctor chides, “you’ve had plenty of Rose to yourself. It’s my turn again.”

Hands engulf Rose’s without hesitation and joy fills her heart to the point of bursting. The Doctor runs her thumbs over Rose’s knuckles and she’s filled with the urge to giggle until she cannot breathe. There’s something intimately familiar about this body and the way their eyes light up as they take in Rose’s face.

“You’ve been a busy girl,” the Doctor teases and Rose’s grin lights up the console like a sky of fireworks.

“You’re blonde!”

“I was inspired,” she confesses squeezing Rose’s hands tightly.

Seconds from exploding into a new start system, Rose watches the adventure they never dreamed of play out across the Doctor’s face. Her veins burn under the time’s weight as she’s shown the ending of a book she didn’t realize she’d been writing since before ‘Run!’

“Don’t worry, there is a sequel,” the Doctor assures and Rose can barely understand what’s being implied because the ache is overtaking her ability to focus.

“My head,” she gasps with tears coating her lips, “it’s killing me.”

She takes a deep breath as time begins to realign itself. The mission’s complete and someone has to get back home before the carriage explodes leaving pumpkin bits in the trees. There are too many memories rushing to the surface – too many stories she doesn’t get cast in. How can she be expected to leave when the Doctor’s looking at her like that?

Her hands pulse with phantom pain: A pressure unlike any other threatens to rip her away until she’s caught in midair. Engineering her own rescue seems almost too much until she catches a glimpse of what will happen if she’s lost to the void. Rose stopped being afraid of the dark long ago, but the absence of light and warmth in that timeline fills her with dread.

Waves of darkness slink across her consciousness and Rose fights against the trials the Doctor will face without her. Surely she can come back sooner – surely she can stay! She is a goddess and he’s going to need her. “Better with two”: “Forever”: “Rose Tyler I –”

“I don’t want to go!”

The Doctor’s hand finds her cheek and Rose’s protest is quickly quieted. “You went off script with that one love. That’s my line.”

Strength suddenly renewed, Rose lets herself be pulled into the Doctor’s arms and works to etch this moment into her very soul with the TARDIS’s encouraging hum nearly drowning out what comes next.

“Come here,” an affectionate harmony of numerous voices fills her mind, “I think you need a Doctor.”

The song is drawn with care through her lips and sleep is instantaneous, working in tandem with old friends to lock away the inferno. Time eventually wears on the padlock until light begins to slither from its prison. Déjà vu becomes her constant confidant until she’s standing hand-in-hand with him as the TARDIS fades from view.

A million thoughts give way to a resounding _click_ in her mind that brings a peaceful silence in the aftermath of a tumultuous recollection of memories from her jaunt as a goddess. Rose turns into his body and lays her head on his chest with its steady singular heartbeat already synced to hers.

He wants to ask her if she’s okay and she wants to tell him she remembers everything, but the phantom feel of a Time Lord’s kiss across all time and space stops her short and Rose just smiles at the waves lapping against the shore. His lips atop her head soothe the sting of repressed memories and his eyes are filled with endless possibilities when she finally looks up.

“ _A message to lead myself here_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Am I implying that Rose and Thirteen are reunited at some point and Bad Wolf did something to Rose's DNA? I mean yeah a wee bit. Am I ever going to be over how little closure we got with what I consider to be one of the coolest story lines in DW history ever? Not on your life.
> 
> I have 1.5 chapters of a 3 chapter fic already done about dimension hopping Rose so keep an eye out for that. It's the middle I am having trouble with - wish me luck.


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